A NEWLY built Kildare-based refuge, which has been unable to open due to lack of funding, has had to turn away 20 women and 47 children living with domestic violence, according to the manager of the service.
Building work on four self-contained apartments for women and children who require refuge was completed earlier this year but they remain shut.
The board of Teach Tearmainn, the organisation behind the project, says it will cost €400,000 to provide staff and a range of support services at the facility annually. However, the HSE says it can only provide a quarter of that sum.
“Women and children have been applying to us every week and every week we have had to turn them away,” manager Jacinta Carey said, adding that nine of the 20 requests the refuge had received had come from State personnel such as gardaí, social workers and community welfare officers, who did not realise the refuge had not yet opened.
“A women’s refuge is more than just a roof overhead – we are talking about vulnerable women and traumatised children,” she said.
When outstanding bills are paid the total cost of building the refuge will top €1 million, €850,000 of which came from State funding, the vast majority of which has already been paid, Ms Carey added.
She said if the outstanding funding couldn’t be found the refuge may have to be handed back to the State.
In a statement a spokeswoman for HSE Mid-Leinster said it provides grant aid to Teach Tearmainn for its information and support service, funding for which was reduced last year “as a result of the extreme financial challenges faced by the HSE”.
It acknowledged Teach Tearmainn’s request for funding to provide refuge accommodation, adding that it was currently engaged in funding negotiations with them for 2012.
“Reflecting the current economic situation the HSE must manage service levels within existing resources. The HSE has prioritised additional funding of €100,000 in response to the Teach Tearmainn request,” she said.
Sharon O’Halloran, director of Safe Ireland, a national organisation representing frontline domestic violence services, said the women who had sought refuge in Kildare since January had most likely had to return home or go to refuges in other parts of the country.
“This refuge is urgently needed...This is an unacceptable situation at any time,” she said.